


Stuck on a Puzzle

by Uranai



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, Timestamp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-03
Updated: 2013-09-03
Packaged: 2017-12-25 13:05:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/953448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uranai/pseuds/Uranai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A snippet of Carlos' thoughts on the radio host after "The Phone Call".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stuck on a Puzzle

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the song "Stuck on a Puzzle" by Alex Turner from the movie "Submarine" 
> 
> You can listen to the song [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyJhep67py8)
> 
> Try to play the song as you read it, or imagine the song playing as a soundtrack to this fic.

The sky was indigo when Carlos went out to get some fresh air. He was just outside his lab that was next to Big Rico’s. Despite what the City Council had said countless times either through the radio or from town meetings the scientist looked up at the stars as he sipped his cold coffee from his paper cup.

Just a few minutes ago Cecil’s radio show had just ended. It was the first time that Carlos had actively listened to the host’s show, given that he told Cecil his discovery that time seems to be slower in Nightvale as compared to the rest of the world and he needed Cecil to spread the word to his listeners. He had not expected to hear Cecil squeak like a high school student about him calling and this made him feel a little uncomfortable. It was now starting to make sense why he could hear some of his team snicker when the show was on. He wondered why they never said anything.

There was also the fact about the Man in the Tan Jacket visiting him, but that’s another investigation he can put off to next week.

Once the radio show had ended, he sent another call asking if Cecil and he could talk about something.

Carlos briefly remembered when he first met Cecil during the town meeting. Cecil was probably one of the very few friendly faces he had seen when he first arrived, or at least the most “normal” by human standards. It was because of their first meeting that he didn’t feel uncomfortable to explore the studio where Cecil worked.

The radio’s host charm placed him at ease when he explained what he was doing here and everything had gone well until the blinking box that he brought which was covered with wires and tubes started whistling and beeping a lot. When the device seemed to react loudly as it was facing the microphone the scientist did what was logical and ran for the nearest exit while yelling to evacuate the building. With that reading, Cecil and the rest of the staff should have been dead, if not mutating into something not even our worst nightmares could conjure. What terrified Carlos more was that nothing actually happened when he escaped;Cecil had finished the show and the night passed as if nothing had happened.

Minus the idea that Cecil was probably not human, the scientist knew that it wasn’t that he didn’t like the radio host. Cecil was pleasant to talk to, although he seemed to be at a loss for words when they were in person. Carlos thought perhaps he was used to having a script or not having to see who he was talking to but his team had pointed out that this was because it was clear as a windshield glass that this radio host had a big crush on him. Other than that, he admired how the man took his work seriously for he himself had the same dedication to his own, and Cecil had been very helpful when it required either getting information about the town or meeting new people who could help him with his data.

Just then Cecil’s car had parked right next to where he was standing. The lights from his car went off and the radio host exited from his vehicle. He gave that big warm smile which he probably gave to every citizen in Nightvale. He was dressed in a maroon sweater vest over a faded purple polo with lavender stripes and gray pants.

The scientist noticed something had changed above and took a quick moment to look up; he was certain the stars twinkled a little more when Cecil arrived.

“Good evening Carlos.” He said his voice a little less informal from his radio persona, and there was a slight emphasis as he spoke the scientist’s name. “You said you needed to talk to me?”

Carlos looked back at him and noticed that Cecil’s pupils had dilated a little.

“Hi Cecil, yes we do. Thanks for coming on such short notice.” Carlos gestured to Cecil’s car while holding his cup. Cecil understood this as a permission to place the cup on the car and nodded. When Carlos placed the cup on the hood, he shoved both hands in his lab pockets.

“First off, thanks for sending the message during your show.”

Cecil brightened up even more. “It was no problem! It’s my job to give the news.”

“Yeah anyway…” his voice trailed off and he wasn’t sure how he was going to finish that sentence. He wanted to tell Cecil that he was flattered and amused at his infatuation but then what? What did this mean for Carlos? Did he want to tell him that he wasn’t interested in seeing anyone? Did he want to tell him that his work came first? Somehow the more he thought about it the more convinced he was that he actually had no reason to call him over.

It had turned into a long pause, and Cecil decided to butt in. “Carlos?”

Carlos feigned a cough. “Sorry…I…I…I forgot…”

Cecil waved his hand. “It’s alright. We all get these moments. Just this morning I was pretty sure Mayor Winchell had tapped a message in Morse code on my bedroom window and it was important but when I got to the station I completely forgot what she said”

Carlos was sure that was a different matter, mostly in the urgency of the message but decided not to give his opinion.

“Anyway we are still meeting for coffee tomorrow afternoon _right_?” Cecil asked, squeaking his last word.

“Huh? Yeah.” Carlos just said anything that would keep the conversation flowing. 

“Alright. Maybe you will remember then, as I hope to remember the message that Mayor Winchell told me this morning.” He placed a hand on Carlos’ left shoulder. This surprised the scientist and he realized he was now inches away from the radio host’s face.

“Good night Carlos. Don’t stay up late. Even scientists need proper rest you know.” He said.

“Uh…right.” His heart rate had increased significantly at the man’s proximity and the fact that his eyes were looking right into his. In a moment that felt much longer to Carlos, Cecil pulled away and went to unlock his car.

Carlos managed to at least remember that he had left his coffee cup on the hood, so he removed it immediately before Cecil started the engine.  He saw Cecil wave at him before he backed up his car and drove away, leaving the scientist alone with his thoughts.

He took a moment to acknowledge to himself how funny it was now that he was on the side of losing his ability to form proper sentences.

He then took another sip of his coffee, hoping that the caffeine would put some sense into him.

Cecil was a nice man, he thought. He’s easy on the eyes and it’s hard to not like him which leaves no explanation how he became the voice of Nightvale. He comes off a little creepy and he probably has no sense of a filter but Carlos could admit to himself that Cecil did not want to harm him or at least not yet.

He looked up again to the stars, which had dimmed slightly now before returning to his lab. As he entered the hall one of his team mates was about to head out.

"Hey. How did it go with Cecil?" she asked.

Carlos raised a questioning eyebrow. "How did you know I was meeting Cecil tonight? I just said I was going out to get some air."

"The walls here aren't that thick." she commented. Carlos gave a stare of doubt that made her add "Also we're a gossiping set of scientists so we may have listened in."

The lead scientist rolled his eyes. "We live in a town that experiences massive earthquakes that nobody seems to feel, has wheat and wheat by-products that turn into snakes among many disturbing things and you all **still** have time to pry on my love life?"

This made his team mate smirk. "So...you **ARE** interested in him."

"What?!" Carlos backtracked on his past sentence before groaning. "I don't know."

"So what did you guys talk about? You didn't stay out very long." His team mate leaned her right shoulder to the wall for support. 

"Nothing. I was supposed to talk to him about the way he talks about me in his show...and then I realized I didn't have any concrete input on the matter at this time." 

"Uh huh..." She replied. "You probably had some sort of sentence in mind?"

"I think I did. I wanted to say that he should tone down on the mentioning of me unless it's actually relevant to the grand scheme of things, and that I am pretty flattered at all the adjectives about my looks but...but I don't think we're on the same page."

"But you didn't"

"Yes"

"You called the voice of Nightvale to not tell him anything despite you were supposed to see him tomorrow." She pointely said. 

Carlos paused for about five seconds and then replied "Yes"

His team mate huffed. "Did you ever consider that you just wanted to see him?"

The other scientist opened his mouth to reply but no words came out. His face changed from "no what are you takling about" to "wait just a moment.." His eyes were looking straight ahead, past the girl in front of him. She took that as a cue to leave that question for another day.

"Well, am off. Let us know how that "coffee" thing went." She patted him on the shoulder and walked past him to the door.

Just when he was about to put into more thought on her question, another of his team mates appeared from the other side of the hall.

"Hey Carlos, I think you would like to take a look at these readings." he called out.

"Huh? Sure."

Carlos immediately put the girl's thought away and went back to his "scientist" mode. He could get to that tomorrow.

Besides, he was going to have coffee tomorrow. 


End file.
